#AmCooking Gov. Tim Walz's "Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish" BECAUSE YOU CAN'T STOP ME
This is very much a from-scratch recipe rather than the usual canna soup plus canna veg plus other processed thing process, which today I love because I have time for it and getting busy in the kitchen is my jam, but I can see where those shortcuts might go.
Some small variations:
Diced up the bacon, then crisped it, then added a smidge olive oil to fry the turkey mixture in that lard.
Layered beans on top of turkey-bacon mixture. Layered mushrooms on top of that.
Oh - I rediscovered a bag of frozen Thai chili peppers in the freezer, so I diced a couple into the turkey mixture.
BTW wanna see fireworks in your microwave? Put 5 of those frozen peppers in a small dish for 30 seconds on HIGH. Be ready to shut things down 15 seconds in. Eeeesh!
45 minutes: "Eh, those tots ain't _quite_ golden-brown yet, and maybe some of that liquid can simmer down?"
55 minutes: "Ooh, hmm, serious bubbling going on there. And the tots are crisping up. I guess it's done?"
That said, I haven't tasted it yet. I ain't touching that cheese-lava until WELL after it stops bubbling.
All right, seems to have settled down, let's open it up and give it a taste...
1. Just the right ratio of goop to solids, I think.
2. I shouldn't have pressed the tots down into the sauce if I wanted more crispiness. Instead I got more of a "smothered hashbrowns" texture.
3.Two thai peppers was just about right. The heat is fierce when I get a good mouthful of the turkey layer!
4. The blanched green beans are definitely the star of the show. Canned would've been fine, but this is EXCELLENT.
Nicole J. LeBoeuf (she/her)
